Gundam: The Wind That Blows Through Space

Chapter 764 The Legend of Siegfried (The Finale, Part 2)
As their conversation drew to a close, Siegfried gave Cagalli a few words of advice and then went to the beach. The sea at night did not look as gentle as it had during the day; the dark blue waters resembled a giant beast that could devour everything. A pink figure stood quietly on the shore, like an unchanging statue.

"Hey, isn't that Lux?" *2
Siegfried, whose thoughts had been seen through, scratched his head awkwardly as they spoke in unison. However, this little bit of emotion quickly dissipated in Lux's smile. Seeing this, Siegfried also stepped forward and stood directly next to Lux.

"We've finally reached this point; it hasn't been easy."

The seemingly random sentence was like a riddle, but Lux quickly guessed the answer. Just as she was about to reach out and touch the red hair core, a sea breeze blew up her skirt. In a panic, Lux had to quickly cover her fair legs, but the next second she felt several solid pats on her head.

"If you want to pat my head, wait another hundred years."

His usual arrogant tone acted like a cleverly locked door, effectively shutting Lux's words out. Noticing her gaze, Siegfried's lips curled into a smile. "What? I'm the first Innovator, can't I read minds in reverse?"

"Hmph, I can wait a hundred years!"

Lux's coquettish tone was used for the first time, and the contrast was so incongruous that even the usually dense Siegfried was momentarily stunned. It was this moment of distraction that Lux noticed, and the next second, Siegfried received several solid blows to the head.

"It must have been very tough all this time."

"Actually, it's not so bad. After all, Hilde has been with me the whole time. Although there were some minor hiccups along the way, at least the ending was a happy one."

Watching the boy's peaceful yet slightly smug expression as he spoke of Hilde, Lux pressed one hand to her chest as if doing so could stop the strange feeling spreading within her.

After that wondrous UC journey, Lacus also understood Siegfried's identity as an extraterrestrial visitor. However, being as intelligent as she was, she did not directly expose him, because she knew very well that Cagalli must know the truth, and might not even be the only one. For her, taking the initiative to reveal the truth was worlds apart from Siegfried confessing to her.

Furthermore, her experience as a time traveler also made Lux understand the inherent loneliness of a time traveler. She asked herself honestly if she hadn't had Kira's unwavering support by her side, and she doubted whether she could have held on until Siegfried came to pick her up.

With this thought in mind, Lux suddenly thought of Siegfried's past. Although he was casually saying, "It's good that Hilde is by my side," as a participant in the Battle of Yakin, how could Lux ​​not know that Hilde almost dragged Siegfried into an abyss of no return? Compared to her stable relationship with Kira, Lux simply couldn't imagine what kind of determination Siegfried had to bear that unbearable history.

"What are your plans next?"

Noticing Lux's slightly nasal voice, Siegfried assumed she had caught a chill from the sea breeze. He casually touched her forehead as he replied, "Mina said she'll be arranging for me to participate in various activities. One reason is to dispel humanity's fear of the unknown, another is to promote the expansion of the Innovators group, and yet another is to use my reputation to suppress those ambitious opportunists, oh, including you PLANTs."

"Then, when the great hero is showing off his power in PLANT, would you do him the honor of coming home for a while?"

As usual, Siegfried was oblivious to Lux's romantic gestures, but Lux gave an unexpected answer. Siegfried stared at her face in surprise, and before he knew it, he realized that Lux was no longer the girl he remembered. Through the power of time, Lux had completely shed her immaturity, and her eyes and brows now showed a touch of mature charm.

"Yes, I will bring Cagalli and Ras back to live with me, but they can't stay for too long, otherwise those old guys from the Human Revolutionary Alliance won't be able to sleep."

Looking from Lux's direction, Siegfried's expression didn't show any obvious fluctuations while he was speaking, which was in stark contrast to his earlier animated talk about Hilde. However, Lux keenly caught the word "home," a small discovery that made her secretly cheer in her heart.

'Don't rush Lux, take it slow, he'll accept you.'

Mina has classified Siegfried and Hilde's past as top secret of the Human Revolutionary Alliance, especially since Siegfried is involved in Mrs. Klein's dark history with the Mendel Institute. Therefore, Mina believes that some things are better left buried in the dust of history.

However, Lux clearly didn't think that way. Having experienced the loneliness of being a transmigrator, her longing for family reached its peak the moment she met Siegfried. That's why she cautiously probed the hero's attitude towards her and even the Klein family. Obviously, she had already gotten the answer she wanted.

In December of C.E. 76, the Earth Front of the Human Revolutionary Alliance completely wiped out the old Eurasian territory and Van Dyson's stronghold before the New Year. The reason for choosing this time point was mainly to give an account of the military operations throughout 76 years. After all, the shadow of the Compass Chaos had not yet dissipated, and the Human Revolutionary Alliance, as the largest political entity in human society at present, also needed to give a convincing answer to this turbulent year.

At the same time, the North American continent was completely brought under the jurisdiction of the People's Revolutionary Federation in terms of legal system. Although there are still many internal issues that need to be sorted out, at least nominally, the former global hegemon, the Atlantic Federation, has been swept into the dustbin of history.

After being removed from the list of terrorist organizations in the Atlantic, Mina, in her capacity as chairperson, declared that LOGOS and Blue Universe were both terrorist organizations. The Human Revolutionary Alliance would take ten years to completely eradicate the lingering influence of LOGOS. At the same time, she also announced that three cities, including Eurofatu, would be opened as communication windows between Earth and PLANT. In return, PLANT would open some of its colonies to the Human Revolutionary Alliance.

If this level of communication was still within everyone's expectations, it was only after a series of statements from the council that everyone truly understood – the Earth Sphere was about to change.

After Lux returned to the Council, PLANT announced that it would increase its energy supply to the Sphere in the following year, and would also cooperate with the Human Revolutionary Alliance in multiple areas such as Innovator research, including but not limited to providing more economical and advanced medical technologies and reducing the prices of industrial products.

The reason is not complicated. The second generation who experienced the Compass Chaos and witnessed Siegfried's "miracle" have begun to take power in the council. From Yzak to Lacus, they have all frankly faced the fact that their side was defeated. Now they still have the bond of friendship from pushing the satellite together. Once the relationship cools down in the future, it will be extremely difficult to pick up that relationship again.

Of course, behind a series of statements of surrender, a massive, epic plan gradually emerged. Starting with the formal joining of the Coordinator research team led by Senator Amalfi under Hilde's command, the "Interstellar Expedition Draft" was revealed for the first time to humanity, which was still uncertain about the future.

During the Compass Turmoil, the flagship of the First Fleet was actually transferred to the Millennium, and the remarkable Orb Lion disappeared from the world's sight. After the war, many people paid attention to the whereabouts of this super battleship until June of C.E.77, when an even larger and more magnificent battleship slowly sailed out of Granada Space Port. Its name was the all-purpose battle mothership - Drestrega.

This super-large trimaran, which is 2 kilometers long, is powered by a large spiral laser serial compression photonic quantum thermonuclear fusion reactor jointly developed by the Amalfi Senator team and Hilde. It can accommodate a large number of mobile suits and even mobile armors. All parts of the ship are equipped with attack gates, enabling it to carry out all-round attacks without blind spots.

If the sheer size only creates a visual impact, then the core function of this warship is the real proof that 'times have changed'. With the support of a new power system, combined with the original design concept of the laser acceleration system before the weaponization of Genesis, the travel time between Earth and Mars has been shortened to 15 days.

This is just the standard travel speed. If the situation becomes urgent, Hilde promised that the time could be shortened to less than 10 days, based on the lifespan of the combustion engine. Anyone with eyes can see that this travel efficiency means that the Human Revolutionary Alliance is going to take action against Mars.

Before the distance problem was solved, the Martian colonies were completely independent due to the long travel time. At that time, the Earth Sphere was busy with civil war and could neither provide material support to Mars nor bring Mars under its jurisdiction. Even worse, due to NJC materials, various governments were exploited by the Martian trade group several times.

The appearance of the Drestrega now indicates that the ambitions of the Human Revolutionary Alliance are not limited to the Lagrange point. The idea that "humanity's journey is to the stars" that Siegfried once proclaimed is gradually becoming a reality at an incredible speed.

Three months ago, Natal Bakiruru handed over her work to Alexei, who had long served as her second-in-command. After that, she led the original Millennium crew to the Drestrega and became the nominal highest commander of this expeditionary warship. At the same time, since it was confirmed that the Martian regime also possessed mobile suits, Bakiruru directly packed up all of the six months' worth of Doom III production and stuffed them into the behemoth's hangar.

The MS unit commander was Bakiruru's old partner, Jiang Kelly, the highest-ranking MS pilot in the Human Reform League, and his wife, Lika Shita. PLANT, as a technical ally, also 'borrowed' several Red Coats to Jiang Kelly, with one of the last few Photocopiers, Heine Westinfrus, leading them.

Among this list of pilots is Count Georgius Marchis, who made a brief appearance in Scandinavia. However, neither he nor the Dorukis III belong to any combat team. They are directly under the command of Kang Kelly, but also have a certain degree of autonomy.

The decision to place Law in the Mars Expeditionary Force was not without its challenges. After Mu expressed his reluctance to participate due to a conflict of interest, Siegfried became Law's guarantor.

The reason is simple: don't be fooled by Agnes's seemingly useless appearance in the Earth Sphere, he's actually quite capable of fighting in his Inverse Delta form. Coupled with the intelligent Setona Winter, Siegfried worries that Kang Kelly's armed forces might not be enough in the event of a conflict.

In the end, Mina only agreed to the personnel appointment because of him. Of course, Bakirulu absolutely could not know Rao's true identity, otherwise Siegfried was really afraid that Natal would kill him before the ship even set sail.

Thus, the Count of Light, who would later make all of Mars grit its teeth, embarked on his journey. No one could have imagined that in the next ten years, Law would become the greatest force to suppress Mars. He also repaid Siegfried's trust with ten years of his life and proved with his actions that the copyist and the original could be separated.

In August of C.E. 77, a week after the departure of the Drestrega, Mina revealed the existence of parallel worlds. The Human Revolutionary Alliance showed the world for the first time G-Quarks and G-Fred, who had been captured six months earlier. The news shocked the world, as the existence of other worlds was far more exciting than genetic modification or Innovators.

Some were gripped by fear, while others took advantage of the chaos. Many criticized Mina for waiting until the Drestregas mission to Mars ended before announcing the news. However, just days later, A-Laws began targeted arrests worldwide, causing the security force to face its first public relations crisis. Riding this wave of criticism, the People's Revolutionary Alliance (PRA) forces began landing in Africa from their Gibraltar base. With the help of Garuda's terrifying transport capabilities, major African cities surrendered in less than five days. Thus, except for a few small countries like the Arab League, the PRA had nominally unified the Earth Sphere.

Of course, this unification is just a slogan for now. There is still a long way to go before the victory in war can be transformed into an economic and even cultural victory. It will take at least four or five years to completely eliminate the remaining armed forces on Earth. But in any case, this new political system has passed its weakest stage. For thousands of years, it has been an established fact that humanity has left its home planet and expanded its influence to the Mars line.

In September of C.E.77, the GN Particle Research Institute, led by Hilde, officially announced the next generation of global military power of Celestial Being. The space trolley Gaddi LS completed testing and set the Ame no Mihachi as its home port. The pilot was Mu La Frada.

During the 15-minute live demonstration, the Gaddi LS displayed far more terrifying combat power than the Silver Thunder or Meteor. Yzak, who had taken over ZAFT, organized a team to conduct an assessment, and the conclusion was that without Aslan, this MA equipped with some of the Glory Defenders' weapons could wipe out Spring Capital in less than half an hour in Mu's hands.

The world, which had been somewhat agitated after the news of the other world was made public, instantly calmed down in the face of absolute force. Many resistance forces took the initiative to surrender to the Human Revolutionary Alliance, using the excuse of "just now we were playing a trick on each other." Subsequently, the number of innovators also began to surge under the influence of multiple pieces of information. The CE world is gradually changing from a binary opposition to a three-way balance of power.

In October of C.E. 77, Mina was targeted for her 14th assassination attempt since taking up her post. This time, the assassin was captured alive, and the investigation proved that he was a veteran ZAFT Red Suit from the Patrick era.

In November of the same year, in order to alleviate the anxiety caused by his identity as an assassin, Siegfried and his two wives made their first diplomatic visit to the Capital of Spring. Celestial Being acted as the fuse, taking on the external security of the Capital of Spring. The main combat force consisted of Kanard and his Fallen Angel Gundam, as well as Shin Asuka's Destiny Gundam.

On November 3rd, on the bridge of the Ptolemy Shipyard, looking at the two heavily pregnant Lilies and the smug-looking Canard, Siegfried pointed several times with trembling fingers, and could only utter a final, "What a disaster!"

Before she could finish speaking, Cagalli struck her in the waist. With Ras's child already over a year old and Cagalli's belly still showing no signs of pregnancy, seeing the happy faces of the Lilies completely drove her into a berserk state.

"2:1, I win the first game."

Having "won" against Siegfried in a certain field for the first time in his life, Canard didn't bother to hide his pride. Unfortunately, this feeling didn't last long when the bridge received a notification of Lux's arrival. Knowing when to stop, Canard quickly led Lily and the others away from the bridge, ostensibly to take over security work on the aircraft.

Boarding the vehicles prepared by PLANT, the council made a grand entrance this time, a stark contrast to the bleak and desolate atmosphere of their secret visit a year ago. A large portrait of Siegfried even appeared on the streets of the Spring Capital, accompanied by the words "Welcome to PLANT, our savior hero."

"Is it really necessary to go to such an over-the-top manner?"

"I have to make you satisfied, right?"

"Did you learn your androgynous skills from Hilde?"

"Of course, after all, I also need to learn how to get along with you."

In the back seat, Siegfried turned his gaze from the window to the front, only to be met with a playful, girl-next-door smile from Lux, who was dressed in a formal suit. Considering that both ladies were in the second car, Siegfried tugged at his collar and awkwardly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, is Kira still hiding and refusing to see anyone? I heard that the Gadget LS was completed so quickly because of his involvement. It makes me sound so petty!"

"Kira has always been an introverted person, and this is good. He doesn't have to carry the whole world on his shoulders. Instead, he chooses to entrust his power to people he can trust. Although we don't see each other as often as before, I truly believe that this is the most relaxed time for Kira."

"Let's not talk about Kira, what about that old bastard Athrun? I heard he and Miling have something going on. Hey, why does your council always like to meddle with people right under your noses?"

"Aslan also has the right to choose his own feelings, if it weren't for someone else, hmph~"

"Lux, I'm not used to you like this. Please revert to your goddess form."

"It can't be restored, that's my attitude towards you."

During the conversation, the convoy stopped in a garden area. Looking out of the car, many reporters were already waiting at the entrance with their cameras and microphones, while security personnel from the People's Revolutionary Alliance and PLANT were quickly setting up a cordon to prevent any uncontrollable accidents.

"To be honest, at least 60% of the people lying here died at my hands. Is it really a good idea to start here?"

"That's precisely why we can highlight how hard-won today's peace is. A reporter will be asking questions in a bit; you should have already memorized the standard answers, right?"

As soon as he got out of the car, Siegfried was immediately surrounded by a barrage of flashes. It turned out that this was the PLANT cemetery for fallen soldiers. Based on Siegfried's combat experience, while the previous statement of 60% was a bit exaggerated, cutting it to 30% was a bit conservative.

"What are your thoughts on the red-clad background of that assassin?"

"I believe that the friendship between the two countries will not be diminished because of this."

"Does your visit represent a certain attitude of the People's Revolutionary Party?"

“I am speaking only for myself and for the traditional friendship between the Ascha family and the Klein family.”

The calm and collected question naturally received the expected answer. In the past six months, Siegfried had accompanied Mina to various fashion shows, and the former troublemaker had developed a standard polite smile.

"What would you like to say to those ZAFT soldiers who died at your hands, you who are known as saviors?"

The unexpected turn of events involved an uninvited guest. Within fractions of a second, Siegfried knew from Lux's expression that the reporter's appearance was completely outside her plans. The tricky questions, regardless of whether Siegfried answered with guilt or not, would cast an unpleasant shadow over the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

"Ignore Siegfried!"

Seeing the anger in Lux's eyes, Siegfried reached out and took the arms of the two ladies, then turned his head and gave her a reassuring look.

"In human history, there has never been a war between absolute good and absolute evil. There has only been a war between subjective good and subjective good, and between beliefs of justice and beliefs of justice that are mutually antagonistic. In a one-sided war of aggression, the aggressor always believes that he is the righteous one, and the war never ends. Therefore, I am no different from those soldiers lying in the cemetery. I am just a microcosm of this chaotic world."

"But."

Before the reporter could say anything more, Siegfried had already pulled his two wives and continued walking forward. However, a red-haired woman with a high ponytail quickly got out of the car and stopped the still persistent reporter. Her movements were a little awkward, but the expression on her face was undeniably serious.

"I am Alustar's Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, and I will now answer your questions."

Not far away, Lux stared blankly at the familiar figure, words stuck in her throat, unsure how to begin. Finally, Siegfried reached out and ruffled her hair, smiling as he said, "People always have to say goodbye to the past, don't they?"

But she is...

“It takes time for a voice to spread, and it takes time for hatred to disappear. My existence is not a story written by someone, so I don’t want to carry this hatred into the future.”

A hero isn't someone who is given the title to save the world; rather, the person who saves the world is called a hero. —The Legend of Siegfried (The End)
(End of this chapter)